Sunday, September 2, 2018

Cornwall, Part II - St. Micheal's Mount

We couldn't resist a trip to St. Michael's Mount; the weather was still gorgeous and even after hiking 10 miles the day before on our visit to Mousehole, we were ready for more. But first, a few more family photos from Mousehole.

On the Coastal path to Mousehole in front of a whale tail marker. First row: Sister, me, sister, brother. Back row: Husband of first sister. Photographer: Husband of second sister.

Ready for our meal at the Rock Pool Cafe. Sister, brother, brother-in-law, sister, me. Again the photographer is the other brother-in-law.

After meandering around town and window shopping, my brother and I decided to walk back to Newlyn by way of a small village along another public footpath. We found the footpath,

Yep, this is it.

but it was too overgrown with nettles and other weeds to hike along. So we returned to Newlyn via the Coastal Path and then had a wander around the upper reaches of Newlyn.

The next day was the trip to St. Michael's Mount. We caught the bus from Newlyn to Penzance and then another bus to Marazion. We had a nice lunch before taking a little boat over to St. Michael's Mount.

View of St. Michael's Mount. The pedestrian causeway is submerged, but some folks are still walking on parts of it. At low tide, the causeway is out of the water. By the time we were ready to go over, the water was entirely too deep for walking.

The "mount" looks so innocent, but it was very steep and tall. My Fitbit reported that we climbed up the equivalent of 71 flights of stairs on this day's adventure.

Looking back toward Marazion from partway up the mount with the causeway on right side of the photo.

Quite a few people were taking advantage of the fine weather, but the grounds and castle never seemed over-crowded. We were able to linger over architectural details and displays and talk to docents about the history of St. Micheal's Mount. I was particularly taken with the stained and painted glass windows.

I saw this old thermometer outside in the shade. Now maybe the stone is only 65F (18C), but the air temperature was much warmer that day!

Who knew that 55F was considered temperate? Notice how the scale is compressed toward the colder temps as compared to the warmer.

Some of the grounds retained the landscaping from former years when the castle was a residence.

Dizzying view straight down onto a small ornamental garden far below.

I'll finish up the tour of the castle with images of stained glass windows from the chapel. This was the only area that was crowded, so I couldn't get any close up views to show the intriguing details. However I did get some nice shots of entire windows. I think you will be able to click on them to make them bigger.

It was lovely. We could have stayed much longer, just like all the places we went and things we saw. I guess that is the sign of a good holiday - you leave the table before you are sated and jaded. Glad you spotted the dragonfly. It looks a little cartoony to me, but was still nice to see.

That stained glass is mesmerizing. And I must say you look fabulous! So relaxed for a woman who'd just hiked 10 miles the previous day. Geeze, I'm impressed. Thanks for sharing this snippet of your journeys, Wilma.

Yes, that photo was early into the 10 miles for that day. But even on the least active day, we still did more than 6 miles - we kept busy! Which was a good thing because we ate so much wonderful food. Glad you liked the stained glass. And thanks for the compliments.

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About Me

In 2004, Dennis and I started moving to Belize from the frozen north of Rochester, MN. It took us a while to get here, but in December 2012 we were here to stay along with our cat, Max. We live on the Caribbean Sea along a stretch of beach called Englishtown, just north of the mouth of the Monkey River, Toledo District. As of 2016, Englishtown is home to 5 humans and 3 dogs, distributed over 3 households. Max lives on in our hearts.

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